Melting trends over the Greenland ice sheet (1958–2009) from spaceborne microwave data and regional climate models
To study near-surface melt changes over the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) since 1979, melt extent estimates from two regional climate models were compared with those obtained from spaceborne microwave brightness temperatures using two different remote sensing algorithms. The results from the two models...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2011-05-01
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| Series: | The Cryosphere |
| Online Access: | http://www.the-cryosphere.net/5/359/2011/tc-5-359-2011.pdf |
| _version_ | 1819136505462915072 |
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| author | X. Fettweis M. Tedesco M. van den Broeke J. Ettema |
| author_facet | X. Fettweis M. Tedesco M. van den Broeke J. Ettema |
| author_sort | X. Fettweis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To study near-surface melt changes over the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) since 1979, melt extent estimates from two regional climate models were compared with those obtained from spaceborne microwave brightness temperatures using two different remote sensing algorithms. The results from the two models were consistent with those obtained with the remote sensing algorithms at both daily and yearly time scales, encouraging the use of the models for analyzing melting trends before the satellite era (1958–1979), when forcing data is available. Differences between satellite-derived and model-simulated results still occur and are used here to identify (i) biases in the snow models (notably in the albedo parametrization, in the thickness of a snow layer, in the maximum liquid water content within the snowpack and in the snowfall impacting the bare ice appearance in summer) and (ii) limitations in the use of passive microwave data for snowmelt detection at the edge of the ice sheet due to mixed pixel effect (e.g., tundra or rock nearby the ice sheet). The results from models and spaceborne microwave sensors confirm a significant (p-value = 0.01) increase in GrIS surface melting since 1979. The melt extent recorded over the last years (1998, 2003, 2005 and 2007) is unprecedented in the last 50 yr with the cumulated melt area in the 2000's being, on the average, twice that of the 1980's. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T10:36:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-75a51e8a5f264f5bb4f7a90cb2813b8e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1994-0416 1994-0424 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T10:36:03Z |
| publishDate | 2011-05-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Cryosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-75a51e8a5f264f5bb4f7a90cb2813b8e2022-12-21T18:29:11ZengCopernicus PublicationsThe Cryosphere1994-04161994-04242011-05-015235937510.5194/tc-5-359-2011Melting trends over the Greenland ice sheet (1958–2009) from spaceborne microwave data and regional climate modelsX. FettweisM. TedescoM. van den BroekeJ. EttemaTo study near-surface melt changes over the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) since 1979, melt extent estimates from two regional climate models were compared with those obtained from spaceborne microwave brightness temperatures using two different remote sensing algorithms. The results from the two models were consistent with those obtained with the remote sensing algorithms at both daily and yearly time scales, encouraging the use of the models for analyzing melting trends before the satellite era (1958–1979), when forcing data is available. Differences between satellite-derived and model-simulated results still occur and are used here to identify (i) biases in the snow models (notably in the albedo parametrization, in the thickness of a snow layer, in the maximum liquid water content within the snowpack and in the snowfall impacting the bare ice appearance in summer) and (ii) limitations in the use of passive microwave data for snowmelt detection at the edge of the ice sheet due to mixed pixel effect (e.g., tundra or rock nearby the ice sheet). The results from models and spaceborne microwave sensors confirm a significant (p-value = 0.01) increase in GrIS surface melting since 1979. The melt extent recorded over the last years (1998, 2003, 2005 and 2007) is unprecedented in the last 50 yr with the cumulated melt area in the 2000's being, on the average, twice that of the 1980's.http://www.the-cryosphere.net/5/359/2011/tc-5-359-2011.pdf |
| spellingShingle | X. Fettweis M. Tedesco M. van den Broeke J. Ettema Melting trends over the Greenland ice sheet (1958–2009) from spaceborne microwave data and regional climate models The Cryosphere |
| title | Melting trends over the Greenland ice sheet (1958–2009) from spaceborne microwave data and regional climate models |
| title_full | Melting trends over the Greenland ice sheet (1958–2009) from spaceborne microwave data and regional climate models |
| title_fullStr | Melting trends over the Greenland ice sheet (1958–2009) from spaceborne microwave data and regional climate models |
| title_full_unstemmed | Melting trends over the Greenland ice sheet (1958–2009) from spaceborne microwave data and regional climate models |
| title_short | Melting trends over the Greenland ice sheet (1958–2009) from spaceborne microwave data and regional climate models |
| title_sort | melting trends over the greenland ice sheet 1958 2009 from spaceborne microwave data and regional climate models |
| url | http://www.the-cryosphere.net/5/359/2011/tc-5-359-2011.pdf |
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